Marydean Draws

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burdens

October 27, 2016 burdens•featured•hope•suffering•weakness

God is near + Psalm 34:18 printable Bible verse coloring page

I hung up the phone with the boy I had been pursuing a relationship with for the past year. He admitted cheating on me, and I knew immediately that the dream of “us” was over. I was in grad school at the time and walked into the kitchen where my roommate was cooking. She looked at my blood-drained face and knew something was wrong. I told her the ugly story and curled up on the carpet in the living...
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August 6, 2015 burdens•neediness•trials•weakness

When weak is strong

Have I mentioned that this season of motherhood is wearing me out? I know I’m not the only one feeling more weak than strong these days. We all have our own brew of weaknesses made up of internal and external factors. My recipe? Allergy headaches. Anxiety. Depression in the family tree. Introversion in house of chatty girls. Seven months of interrupted sleep. Sometimes I wonder why God knit me together this way (Psalm 139:13). Wouldn’t I be more effective strong? ...

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June 11, 2015 books that shape me•burdens•hope•illustration•neediness•printable•trials

Right now counts + free printable!

There have been times this last week when the challenges of parenting compounded with physical weaknesses made it all seem just too hard, and discouragement creeps in. It seems silly to write it; I’m not gravely ill or suffering anything serious. It’s just the moment-by-moment challenge of life currently.   My friend Laura recently shared the quote pictured above on her blog, The Blog Around the Corner. Laura is a friend that used to be part of our church...

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April 8, 2015 burdens•grace•identity•marriage•neediness

Just a child

Do you know those moments when you’re faced with your own brokenness and failures? Other than my daily flops and flounderings in mommying, nothing makes me face this more than a good ‘ol argument with my husband. We don’t argue often anymore (our first few months as Mr. and Mrs. were a bit of a doozy), but there are still times when we completely miscommunicate.  This happened recently. We felt and saw the same situation totally differently and ended...

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November 25, 2014 anxiety•burdens•depression•hope•joy•neediness•satisfaction•trials•waiting

How I deal with depressing days

I have days when I’m just sad. Depression is just a part of the rhythm of my life. It comes and goes. Sometimes I can figure out the source (physical, situational) and others times I can’t. I feel sad or oppressed by life, weighed down. I get quiet and weepy. I feel extra needy and don’t know why. One blessing of having been very low in the past is that I know a few things: I know God will...

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August 7, 2014 anxiety•burdens

the weight

I am weighed down. I lay things down only to later realize I’ve picked them back up again. I’ve been reflecting on this Scripture: “Oh LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.” Psalm 131:1-2...

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Welcome to the blog!

I’m Mary and I’m glad you’re here! Since 2014, I’ve been sharing encouraging words, fun Bible printables, and accessible art activities.

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If you look up artwork or movies featuring Mary Ma If you look up artwork or movies featuring Mary Magdalene, you’ll often find her depicted as a penitent woman or as sexualized, with her clothes literally falling off her body. It was Pope Gregory the Great who proposed that Mary Magdalene’s seven demons represented the seven deadly sins and that she was both a prostitute and the penitent sinner who anoints Jesus in Luke 7:36-50 (Jennifer Powell McNutt).

Later church historians assumed that Mary Magdalene’s great sins were to blame for her demon possession (McNutt). While the Western Church came to see Mary Magdalene as a prostitute and a great sinner, the Eastern Orthodox church honored her as the leader of the “myrrh-bearing women” (Taylor and Bond).

Read some research into the REAL Mary Magdalene story here:
https://marydeandraws.substack.com/p/jesus-speaks-to-women-chapter-16
In today's Friday newsletter: 🌸 Mother's Day Sa In today's Friday newsletter:
🌸 Mother's Day Sale! 20% off with the MOMLOVE on my website. Mother's day is Sunday, May 10 this year.
🌸 Part 1 of the Mary Magdalene study is up on Substack. Have you ever heard that she was a prostitute? Where did that come from? Is it Biblical? I was fascinated by how her story has been told through history, the origins of her name, what it means that she had been possessed by seven demons, and her place among Jesus’ disciples. 
🌸 The Holy Post podcast episode with Bri Stensrud, the director of Women of Welcome, “a community dedicated to diving into the whole of scripture to understand God’s heart for the immigrant and refugee.” 

Read the newsletter here:
https://marydeandraws.substack.com/p/marys-friday-newsletter-41726

Read the Mary Magdalene post here:
https://marydeandraws.substack.com/p/jesus-speaks-to-women-chapter-16

If you sign up for my newsletter, you can receive all my posts in your inbox. Sign up on my website at www.marydeandraws.com or find me on Substack. You don't need the Substack app to read my posts, but it's easy to use, and you can listen to any of the stories with the playback feature.
When I started writing the Jesus Speaks to Women B When I started writing the Jesus Speaks to Women Bible studies last year, I started collecting books on New Testament women. I really didn’t know where to start at first. I wasn’t familiar with the scholarship about women in the Bible, and I hadn’t even heard of any female theologians doing this work!

So you don’t have to start from scratch if you’re like I was, I’m going to share a list of books I’ve learned from in the last year. Some are more academic than others, but all have been helpful. 

See the list here or find me "Marydean Draws" on Substack:
https://marydeandraws.substack.com/p/books-about-women-in-the-new-testament
In today's Friday newsletter: 🌸 things I learne In today's Friday newsletter:
🌸 things I learned from my pastor dad (in honor of his birthday)
🌸 upcoming bird collage workshop at Friendly City Clay and Art Center
🌸 using oil pastels + a recommended set from Blick
🌸 book about women in the New Testament 
🌸 preparing to write about Mary Magdalene and the resurrection stories

Read it all here:
https://marydeandraws.substack.com/p/marys-friday-newsletter-41026

The post about books about New Testament women:
https://marydeandraws.substack.com/p/books-about-women-in-the-new-testament

If you sign up for my newsletter, you can receive all my posts in your inbox. Sign up on my website at www.marydeandraws.com or find me on Substack. You don't need the Substack app to read my posts, but it's easy to use, and you can listen to any of the stories with the playback feature.
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